Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Wonderful Message
In my grad class we watched another wonderful TED Talk. I wanted to share this with my friends who are educators, administrators, politicians and most important, parents. This is Will Richardson speaking on the status of education and how we need to "change".
Friday, March 18, 2011
Follow-Up to "Improvisation" Blog
In my last blog I wrote of my plans to implement some different techniques in teaching improvisation to one of my jazz ensembles. The ensemble I used was my Jazz Lab group. This group is a non-auditioned group that is for students who didn't get into the jazz band or who do not play a traditional jazz band instrument, but still wish to learn and play jazz music.
For warm-ups I had every student take a four bar improv solo over blues changes. But instead of having them use a blues scale, I made them pick one note out of that scale. It was intended to get them over their fear of soloing, which it did. But what I really liked was the students who were comfortable about trying solos really had to work on making their one note creative and interesting. In other words, they had to put all of their focus on rhythms, spacing and phrasing rather than melodic and pitch content.
This was a great exercise and I plan on using this and other techniques from the article "How to Make Your Musical Improvisation More Interesting" with my jazz band in the next couple of weeks. I will keep you posted.
For warm-ups I had every student take a four bar improv solo over blues changes. But instead of having them use a blues scale, I made them pick one note out of that scale. It was intended to get them over their fear of soloing, which it did. But what I really liked was the students who were comfortable about trying solos really had to work on making their one note creative and interesting. In other words, they had to put all of their focus on rhythms, spacing and phrasing rather than melodic and pitch content.
This was a great exercise and I plan on using this and other techniques from the article "How to Make Your Musical Improvisation More Interesting" with my jazz band in the next couple of weeks. I will keep you posted.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Baby-Steps to Improvisation
The interest in jazz has grown a great deal since I started teaching at La Vista Junior High School. Though I am not a jazz guru, I love jazz. I love to listen, play and continue learning about this wonderful genre. One of the biggest obstacles for most students (middle or high school) is getting over the fear of improvisation. Especially in front of their peers. I have had students cut loose in a private lesson, but freeze up in front of their band mates.
I found a wonderful article on easing into the improv. world, "How to Make Your Musical Improvisation More Interesting". I am going to implement some of these techniques with my jazz lab band later this week. I will do a follow-up very soon after the rehearsal to let you know the results.
I found a wonderful article on easing into the improv. world, "How to Make Your Musical Improvisation More Interesting". I am going to implement some of these techniques with my jazz lab band later this week. I will do a follow-up very soon after the rehearsal to let you know the results.
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